Process of cutting veneers



(No Model.)

J. W. CHAPMAN.

PROCESS OF CUTTING VENEERS.

No. 463,888. Patented N0 v. 24, 1891'.

ATENT FFICEQ JAY \V. CHAPMAN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN. I

PROCESS OF CUTTING VENEERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent No.463,888, dated November24, 1891.

Application filed January 2, 1890.

aZZ 20700712 it may concern."

Be it known that I, JAY \V. CHAPMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of CuttingVeneer, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in processes forcutting veneer intended for making barrels or packages.

My invention relates more specifically to that kind of veneer which iscut from a barrel-shaped bolt or log, andwherebysuch veneer when formingthe staves of a barrel naturally imparts to the barrel its peculiarbilge-shaped form.

The advantage of barrel-stave veneer cut from a barrel-shaped log orboltis that barrels can be built therefrom with a minimum number of staves,if desired, even of a single stave, and it is obvious that this forms agreat advantage over the ordinary barrel formed of many staves in beingnot only stronger and of handsomer appearance, but also in being moretight on account of the fewer joints. However one serious difficulty hasbeen met with in the use of such veneer staves, and that is thedifficulty of securing or removing the heads from such barrels.This'difficulty arises from the fact that the ends of the barrel formedonly of one, two, or three such staves cannot be expanded or contractedas readily as in the ordinary barrel formed of many staves or in thebarrel formed of ordinary veneer divided at its ends into a number ofseparate staves. A certain degree of expansibility or give is requiredto secure the head into the barrel or to remove it, andto obtain thiswith the same facility as in the barrels composed of many staves is theobject of my invention.

To this end my invention consists in the process of straining orexpanding the marginal edges of the veneer in cutting it just enough toseparate the fibers without actually splitting the wood. Veneerstretched or expanded by my process will, in making a barrel of itcomposed of one, two, or more of such staves, have at its ends enoughgive or spring to allow of forcing the head in or removing it withoutSerial N... 335.710. (No model.)

splitting the wood,all as more fully hereinafter described, and shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an end elevation of aveneer-cue ting machine having my improvement attached thereto adaptedfor cutting straight veneer. Fig. 2 is a similar view in which themachine is adapted for cutting bilged veneer. Fig. 3 is a similar viewshowing the machine equipped with adjustable knives. Fig. -lisa verticalcentral section thereof. Fig. 5 is a vertical section through a barrelconstructed of my veneer and with the head yet unsecured.

A is a barrel of ordinary form and construction, and B is the headadapted to fit into the top of the barrel. In the act of heading thebarrel, as in the ordinary manner, it is clear that in forcing the headdown into the croze of the barrel the top of the barrel must be able toexpand. iVith a barrel constructed of many staves the staves readilybend outwardly without trouble, and either spring back into place afterthe head is forced in or are drawn back in securing the top hoopsaround. \Vith a veneer barrel constructed of one or more staves-onlythis would not be so easy and would result generally in 1 injuring thehead by splitting off the head or producing several cracks in the Wood,which although they would be closed again by the top hoops aftersecuring the head in, nevertheless the cracks remain, and by subsequentshrinkage of the wood deprive the barrel of its intrinsic value ofhaving a minimum of joints. To overcome this I stretch or strain theveneer, or at least a marginal portion, along its edges, preferably inthe act of cutting it, as the wood is then in a soft condition and canbe considerably stretched. In the subsequent drying of the veneer thisstretch ing is lost or partly lost by the wood contracting again; but ifa barrel is built of such veneer the head may be forced into placewithout any liability of injuring the head or splitting or cracking theveneer forming the stave or staves on account of the inherent facilityof the veneer to again expand all around after the fibers of the woodhave been previously opened or separated in a large number of places.

The stretching or straining of the fibers of the wood, as abovedescribed, I preferably accomplish while cutting the veneer, as the woodbeing rendered soft bysteaming is then in the most favorable condition;but other ad vantages are derived from doing soviz.,the

5 operation of stretching makes the veneer more pliable and less liableto break off or crack,

so that it can be taken off with less damage or waste than where theveneer is cut in the ordinary way. This is especially the case incutting bilged veneer, which is more diflicult to take off than astraight veneer. The preferable way in which Iaccomplish the stretchingis by means of corrugated, fluted, or serrated rollers, which I useinstead of the ordinary compression-rollers. The central roller orrollers a, by being pressed against the wood and having suitableserrations, are forced to revolve and to communicate their motionthrough a common shaft to the end rollers Z).

These are made of suitable size to have a greater peripheral speed thanthe peripheral speed of the log at the point at which they travel. Theresult is that the veneer at these points is pulled off or stretched,the degree of stretching depending on the relative difference ofperipheral speed between the rollers on the log at their points ofcontact. By

making these relative differences comparatively small the stretching isaccomplished 0 without splitting the veneer.

My device does not theoretically accomplish the stretching of theveneer, as it will be easily seen that the result is rather a separationof the fibers at small distances apart- 5 that is, where the serrationsof the rollers make their deepest indentations into the wood; but forpractical purposes this is sufficient, as but little stretching isneeded to accomplish the object of my inventionthat is,

to impart a certain degree of eXpansibilit-y to the ends of the barrelsmade from veneer staves.

It is obvious that the stretching of a portion of the marginal ends ofthe veneer may be accomplished in diiferent ways and by means whichfurnish a more perfect result; but I prefer the way described as beingthe most simple and practicable and dispensing with extra labor andmachinery, and which I have made the subject of a separate application,upon which Patent No. 435,480, of September 2, 1890, was issued.

The devices may be applied to any kind of veneer-cutting machine-as, forinstance, as

shown in Fig. 1, which shows a machine designed for cutting straightveneer. In this the end rollers b are made of larger size than thecentral roller and they may be all fastened upon shafts journaled inbearings back of the knife 0.

Although the packages made from straight veneer have the heads nailed inand on that account do not present any difficulties, still thestretching of the veneer will make better packages, as the heads maybefitted in more tightly.

Fig. 2 shows a machine in which the knife is curved or made on an obtuseangle and in which the veneer is cut from a barrel-shaped log with acroze and a chamfer formed thereon at the same time. Here each half ofthe knife has a separate roller. The central portion a revolves with thesame speed as the log and imparts its movement to the outer one, which,even if it is of the same size, re-

' volves faster peripherally than the portion of the logwith which it isin contact on account of the contracted end of the log.

In Fig. 31 show a veneer-cutting machine in which the knife has a hingein the center forthe purpose of varying the angle in the center of theknife, as in cutting veneer adapted to form staves of a uniform bilge.In this type of machine the rollers may be arranged the same as in Fig.2.

Fig. 4: is a diagram cross-section of the latter machine and shows therelative position of the stretching-rollers and knife.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. The herein-described method ofmanufacturing barrel-veneer, consisting of cutting the veneer from thelog and in stretching the fibers apart at intervals on the outer or endportions, substantially "as described.

2. The herein-described method of manufacturing barrel-veneer,consisting of cutting the veneer from the log with a bilge andlinstretching the fibers apart at intervals on the outer or end portions,substantially as described.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a veneer stave for packagesorbarrels, the fibers of which are stretched or strained at the ends,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,this 9th day of November, 1889.

JAY W. CHAPMAN.

Witnesses:

M. B. ODoennnrv, O. C. ALTON.

